Valorant Masters Santiago 2026 was a global Valorant tournament organized by publisher Riot Games following the Kickoff stage of the 2026 Valorant Champions Tour (VCT). The tournament was held from February 28 to March 15, 2026 in Santiago, Chile. It was the first Masters tournament for the Kickoff phase to feature twelve teams, with the top three teams from each region competing.
It marked the second international Valorant competition to be held in Latin America since the LOCK//IN Kickoff event in 2023, and the first to be held in Chile.
In the event's first regional grand finals match since the beginning of the partnership era, Nongshim RedForce swept Paper Rex, 3-0, to claim the organization's first trophy and the region's fourth consecutive Masters trophy. This also makes them the first team from the Ascension to win an international tournament.
Before the start of the grand finals, an exhibition match was played to showcase the game's 30th agent and 7th Controller, Miks, as well as a new game mode, Knockout. The showmatch also notably featured Megan of Katseye (members Sophia, Lara, Daniela, and Yoonchae were also in attendance) on team Weones Malos, alongside former player Sacy, TCK, Bstrdd, and furq.
Host selection On 2 October 2025, in the build-up to the 2025 Valorant Champions Finals in Paris, France, Riot Games announced the host cities for the two Valorant Masters tournaments in 2026, with Santiago, Chile being selected as the host for the first Masters event of the competitive season. The city hosted the first-ever esports competition of the Pan American Games during the 2023 edition.
Qualification
Unlike the previous season's first Masters tournament, number of participants were increased from eight to twelve teams qualified for the tournaments from three international leagues (Americas, EMEA, Pacific) and the China league in Kickoff season. The top-seeded team from each region received a bye and automatically qualified for playoffs, while the remaining eight teams competed in the Swiss Stage to qualify for playoffs.
(*) Non-partner teams in franchise system +RegionKickoffs 1st SeedKickoffs 2nd SeedKickoffs 3rd SeedAmericasFURIA EsportsG2 Esports*NRGEMEABBL EsportsGentle MatesTeam LiquidPacificNongshim RedForce*T1Paper RexChinaAll GamersXi Lai Gaming*Edward Gaming
Venue On 1 December 2025, the Espacio Riesco was chosen as the venue for the tournament. Santiago, Chile Espacio RiescoCapacity: 10,000
Format The tournament will use the same twelve-team format used in Masters Shanghai 2024 and Masters Toronto 2025. The second and third seeds from each International League compete in a Swiss-system tournament stage. The four teams that achieved two wins would advance to playoffs while those that achieved two losses would be eliminated.
The four teams from the Swiss stage would join the first seeds from each region in the playoffs, a double-elimination tournament to decide the event's champion.
Swiss Stage Eight teams competed in the Swiss stage, with the four teams that achieved two wins before accruing two losses advancing to playoffs. All matches were best-of-three series.
The draw for the initial matches was held in Los Angeles, United States after the lower bracket finals of the VCT Americas Kickoff. The second-seeded teams were matched against one of the four third-seeded teams, and teams from the same league cannot be drawn against each other for the first match.
All matches on 28 February and 1 March began at 14:00 CLST (17:00 UTC), while matches in the remaining days began at 15:00 CLST (18:00 UTC).
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Playoffs Date and time: March 6–15, began at 15:00 CLST (18:00 UTC) Matches on March 7–8, March 13–15 began at 14:00 CLST (17:00 UTC). Seed 1 teams qualified directly to the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals, while the other four teams qualified for the playoffs from the Swiss stage. Each seed 1 team selected their opponent in a draw once the Swiss stages concluded. Order drawn: Nongshim RedForce (picked Gentle Mates), then All Gamers (picked G2 Esports), then FURIA Esports (picked Paper Rex), leaving BBL with last remaining team (NRG). All matches were played in a best-of-three series, with the exception of the Lower Bracket Finals and the Grand Finals which were played in a best-of-five
Upper Bracket
Round 1
Semifinals
Finals
Lower Bracket
Round 1
Round 2
Semifinals
Finals
Grand Finals The winning team from the Upper Bracket Final will have the two-map ban advantage in map veto as the upper bracket team
Final standings All participating teams were awarded a share of the US$500,000 prize pool. Additionally, 1st through 6th place teams earned Championship Points to help them qualify for the 2026 Valorant Champions Shanghai, which will be held in September. Place Team Winnings (USD)Championship Points Nongshim RedForce $350,0006 Paper Rex $200,0004 NRG $125,0003 G2 Esports $75,0002All Gamers$50,0001BBL EsportsGentle Mates$35,0000FURIA EsportsTeam Liquid$25,0000T1Edward Gaming$15,0000Xi Lai Gaming
Controversies Second round draw After the conclusion of the first round matches on 1 March, the draw for the second round of the swiss stage was conducted immediately afterwards. However, hours after the draw, VCT commissioner Leo Faria announced that the draw would be redone due to an error of putting the first two teams drawn, Paper Rex and Gentle Mates, in the 1-0 bracket, when both teams should've been drawn in separate matchups in the same bracket. A new draw was conducted behind closed doors the night of the incident, but was not streamed live. A full video was posted on X (formerly Twitter) by Faria the day after on 2 March.
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